Freedom Of Religion In Malaysia Essay

Introduction
Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy, comprising of thirteen states – Kelantan, Kedah, Terengganu, Perlis, Penang, Malacca, Selangor, Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Sabah, Sarawak, and Johor – and one federal territory, which includes the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Labuan and Federal Territory of Putrajaya. With an estimate of about 27 million inhabitants, it is not a surprise that Malaysia is one of the most multi-religious countries in the world today. This enhances the “1Malaysia” concept that was introduced by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on 16th September 2010. Being a multi-religious country has numerous benefits; Malaysians can develop a better understanding of the food, faith, or festival of other religions, hence allowing greater respect and lesser conflict. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the supreme decree of the country, undoubtedly offers the opportunity for freedom of religion in Malaysia. Although the religion of Islam was marked as the religion of the Federation

This clause of the article that supports freedom of religion could hardly be any more precise or apparent; yet, Lina Joy was notified by the Federal Court that those words do not mean exactly what they seem to mean. Legal realism is once again portrayed in this case. Law in action, rather than law in books, were practiced as the judge had played a role in interpreting the black letter of the law (written rules). It is apparent that the law had changed according to the judge’s decision as it was not stated in any clause of Article 11 that the freedom of religion was only confined to non-Muslims. Lina Joy’s case materialised the dispute over whether Malaysia was principally led by Islamic ideology or by a liberal interpretation of the Federal Constitution (Lee,